Pivot tables may be an effective data presentation mechanism to summarize data. A pivot table may be used to perform functions such as sort, count, total, and/or average data present in another data structure, such as a database. A pivot table may be used to sort and sum elements (e.g., records) independent of the original data layout in the database. As an example, a database may have a stored record for each employee of a company. Within each employee's record, a city where the employee is based and a department of the company in which the employee is employed may be indicated. A pivot table may be created based on cities and departments, such that a number is displayed for each city and department combination. For example, a pivot table having a cell representing the combination of “Boston” and “Finance” may display the number “3” to indicate that three employees of the Finance department are based in Boston.
While such pivot tables may provide a useful summarization of data, it may be inefficient to interact with the data used to create the pivot table. For example, accessing the database entry for the employees who work in the finance department and are based in Boston may not be possible directly from the pivot table. Rather, a separate table may need to be displayed that indicates the three records referred to by the number 3.